1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to apparatus and methods for formation fluid collection and testing.
2. Description of the Related Art
During both drilling of a wellbore and after drilling, clean fluid from the formation is often extracted to determine the nature of the hydrocarbons in hydrocarbon-bearing formations. Fluid samples are often collected in multiple chambers and the collected samples are tested to determine various properties of the extracted formation fluid. To drill a well, drilling fluid is circulated under pressure greater than the pressure of the formation in which the well is drilled. The drilling fluid invades into the formation and contaminates the connate fluid in formation to varying depths, referred to as the invaded zone. To collect samples of the original fluid present in the formation (also referred to as the connate fluid), a formation testing tool is conveyed into the wellbore. A pump typically extracts the formation fluid via a sealed probe placed against the inside wall of the wellbore. The fluid is tested for contamination and when the extracted fluid is sufficiently clean, samples are collected in chambers for further analysis. Single and concentric probes have been proposed for extracting formation fluid. In a concentric probe, an outer probe surrounding an inner probe deflects the contaminated fluid away from the inner probe, which enables faster drainage of the contaminated fluid from the invaded zone and thus the collection of the connate fluid samples.
The disclosure herein provides a formation evaluation system with an alternative fluid extraction system.